Champion bike rider Dave Heal, from Heathfield, may have ridden his last race.

Heal, a former British Supersport 600 champion and the 2000 privateer champion in the British Superbike Series, is considering quitting racing.

The 35-year-old, who is the only professional racer in Sussex, has endured an awful 2001 campaign in the British Superstock Series.

Sponsors for Team Gataka, who Heal was riding for, pulled out halfway through the season which meant Heal had to fund the remainder of the season himself.

A catalogue of mechanical problems have not helped him either.

The final round of the series at Donington Park last weekend summed up Heal's year. His brakes failed on lap three of the race, meaning he had to retire.

Heal must now spend the winter months trying to secure a ride for next season, otherwise he is likely to quit.

He said: "I am talking to a few people about next year. I have got to get into a sensible set-up with decent personnel and back-up.

"It is not worth trying to do it on your own at this level anymore. It is too professional, too competitive now.

"In the past you could make up for uncompetitive machinery with your talent but not so these days.

"If I cannot find anything then it may be time to call it a day. I hope that isn't the case but I am not going to do things on a wing and a prayer now."

The week before Donington, Heal competed in the Lord of Lydden meeting for the first time.

Heal won the first race by 12 seconds, breaking the lap record for Lydden in the process.

In race two, Heal finished second and in the main Lord of Lydden race he was leading when the race was stopped due to an incident. It became a two-part race with Heal finishing third in the second part, which gave him third place overall.

Meanwhile, Crawley teenager Ollie Merriless has finally been notching up points in the British Junior Superstock Championship.

At Mallory Park Merrilees qualified 21st, his best so far, and went on to finish 14th in the race which gave him two championship points.

Then at Rockingham, he qualified 23rd on the grid but enjoyed a good race to finish 15th.

Merrilees, who races for Dot.Com racing, said: "I seem to have the Jamie Whitham syndrome. I struggle in the qualifying but manage to go well in the race.

"The problem is trying to make up places from starting further down the grid and with the speed of the frontrunners it's impossible."

The team has enlisted the help of ex-racer Gavin Slingsby to coach Merrilees. Slingsby has been racing for ten years and has won several championships.

Team manager Paul Merrilees, Ollie's father, said: "We hope this will aid Oliver in his race development."